Array Orientation Adjustments Subject to Optimal Direct Position Determination Performance

Abstract

Arrays deployed in antenna-array-based direct position determination (DPD) systems are conventionally placed parallel to each other with invariant orientations, which may be inappropriate. This paper proposes a novel array orientation adjustment method to achieve optimal DPD performance, in which we seek optimal array orientations that maximize the trace of the Fisher information matrix (FIM) and then minimize localization uncertainty. The optimization problem is unconstrained, multivariable, and can be converted into multiple tractable single-variable optimization problems. An exact solution can be obtained by a straightforward but computationally tedious one-dimensional exhaustive search. To reduce the computational load, we then derive an asymptotic solution in cases where the arrays consist of massive antennas. Numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method in resolution and precision enhancement, especially in a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).